The Eurecat technology centre is developing a research project to remediate hydrocarbon-contaminated soils through a micro-remediation technology that uses fungi and has a lower environmental cost than conventional techniques.
In the context of the project, funded by the Torres Quevedo programme, ‘parameters such as soil texture, nutrients or microorganisms that control the degradation of hydrocarbons by fungi are determined using tests in the laboratory and subsequently on a pilot scale’, explains Lídia Fernández, a researcher in Eurecat’s Water, Air and Soil Unit.
Currently, the majority of hydrocarbon-contaminated soils ‘end up in the landfill or undergo treatments that are very costly in energy terms and deprive the soil of its functional capacities’. Remediation with bacteria is also carried out, but this technique ‘requires long operating periods and isn’t effective for longer chain hydrocarbons’, explains Xavier Martínez, the director of Eurecat’s Water, Air and Soil Unit.
Based on the project results, an implementation guide for the micro-remediation technique will also be prepared, to provide guidance to the companies and bodies that will use this kind of treatment.
